Preserving our Highway Infrastructure Assets - Speaker Bios
Peter 'Jack' Basso
Director of Program Finance and Management, AASHTO
Mr. Basso is the Director of Program Finance and Management at AASHTO. Prior to joining AASHTO, Basso served as Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs and as Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Department of Transportation. In that capacity, he oversaw the development of a $60 billion budget and interacted with senior officials, members of Congress, their staff, and key industry officials on a wide variety of transportation matters. Prior to his appointment by President Clinton to this position, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget and Programs.
Loreen Bobo
Orlando Assistant Maintenance Engineer, Florida Department of Transportation, District5
Loreen Bobo is one of the Assistant Maintenance Engineer's at the Orlando Maintenance Office in District 5 of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). She has been with the FDOT for eleven years, starting in the PE Trainee Program and spending several years in the Orlando and Interstate Construction Offices as Project Engineer and Project Manager. Mrs. Bobo joined the maintenance office within the last year. In the Orlando Maintenance Office, Mrs. Bobo oversees the production operations such as permitting and contracts.
Douglas Carlson
Executive Director, Rubber Pavements Association
Mr. Carlson has been working in the rubberized asphalt industry for over ten years and serves as an advisor to tire recyclers and road builders on the cost effective uses of scrap tire rubber. Mr. Carlson is a member of the American Society for Testing Materials International where he has contributed to the creation of several specifications for rubberized asphalt and has also served on the Federal Highway Quiet Pavement Technology Scanning Tour of Europe in 2005.
Francois Chaignon
Vice President for Quality Assurance and Technical Support, COLAS Inc.
Francois has worked at COLAS in various capacities since 1985. In his current position as Vice-President for Quality Assurance and Technical Support, Francis develops new products and processes and follows new technical development trends for testing or controlling.Previously, Francis worked in various Research and Development and Quality Assurance positions with COLAS INC and other companies. He is the author of various papers in French and English, and he serves on the Board of the Association of Emulsion Asphalt Manufacturers(AEMA), as Alternate Director for COLAS SA at the Asphalt Institute, as a Member of NAPA technical committees, and as a Board Member of the Foundation for Pavement Preservation and the National Center for Pavement Preservation. He received a BS of Meanique applique from the University PARIS VI, and a Diploma of French Civil Engineer from Ecole Nationaledes Ponts et Chaussees.
Carlos Chang Albitres, P.E., Ph.D
Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP
Dr. Chang is recognized as an international expert on roadway materials and pavements, pavement evaluation, pavement management, knowledge management, decision making techniques, and asset management. He has published many technical papers and books. Dr. Chang also serves as the Regional Coordinator for Latin America for the International Road Federation (IRF).
Ben Gericke
Program Team Leader, East Asia Sustainable Infrastructure, The World Bank
Mr. Gericke is recognized internationally for his road reform and implementation management experience. His professional experience in many countries includes infrastructure and asset management, restructuring of road management functions, road reform implementation and efficiency improvements within road agencies. He has a strong project implementation background and was a guest lecturer at several international training programs organized by, among others, the International Road Federation, University of Birmingham and SWEROAD. Mr. Gericke represents the World Bank on technical committees with PIARC.
Charles M. Heffinger, Jr.
Orlando Maintenance Engineer, Florida Department of Transportation, District 5
Charles 'Mike' Heffinger is the Area Maintenance Engineer at the Orlando Maintenance Office in District 5 of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). He has been with the FDOT for nineteen years, starting in the PE Trainee Program and spending fifteen of those years in various Roadway Maintenance capacities. Mr. Heffinger currently oversees all activities coordinated out of the Orlando Maintenance Office.
Seta Koroitamudu
Orlando Assistant Maintenance Engineer, Florida Department of Transportation, District5
Seta Koroitamudu is one of the Assistant Maintenance Engineer's at the Orlando Maintenance Office in District 5 of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). He has been with the FDOT for eleven years, starting in the PE Trainee Program and spending several years in the Structures Maintenance Office. He has served as a project manager on Asset Maintenance Contracts in the District. Mr. Koroitamudu currently works out of the Orlando Maintenance Office and oversees the operations of the unit.
Bill O'Leary
Vice President, Martin Asphalt Co.
Bill O'Leary is Vice-President of Martin Asphalt Co. in Houston TX. Marin Asphalt produces virtually all grades of asphalt materials in use today. Mr. O'Leary has over 30 years experience in producing asphalt materials for the construction and maintenance of pavements. O'Leary is the immediate past President of the Foundation for Pavement Preservation, past President of AEMA and is active with TRB, AGC, Texas Pavement Preservation Center, TxAPA and other industry groups. O'Leary has made 100's of presentations on materials, paving and maintenance techniques.
Patrick Pusey
Vice President of Sales, ECOroads
As Vice President of Sales, Patrick Pusey brings 13 years of sales and business development experience within the heavy highway and civil infrastructure markets to TerraFusion. His focus has helped to further develop the distribution and geotechnical design markets that have established ECOroads as a sustainable and cost effective solution for international road builders on six continents.
Previously, Mr. Pusey spent eight years as a founding partner of two successful startup companies that provided land developers, consulting engineers and earthwork contractors across the United States and internationally with innovative and economical engineered solutions to common site development problems. Solutions included prefabricated, modular bridge and culvert systems, retaining walls and soil improvement using geogrids and geotextiles.
In this capacity, his responsibilities included coordinating national sales and marketing efforts, establishing third-party engineering and distribution channels and new product development. Prior to that, Mr. Pusey handled multiple sales positions throughout the eastern United States for a leading construction products manufacturer.
Mr. Pusey holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from West Virginia University.
Nastaran Saadatmand
Pavement Management Program Manager, FHWA
Nastaran Saadatmand is the Pavement Management Program Manager. Her major focus is on the development of pavement health index, and promoting the effective use of pavement management in decision-making. Nastaran is also the instructor of the 'Characteristics of an Effective Pavement Management Program' course which is offered by the National Highway Institute to the highway agencies.
Delmar Salomon
President of Pavement Preservation Systems, LLC
Delmar is dedicated to the commercialization of asphalt technology, consulting and the promotion of pavement preservation programs in the US and Latin America. Delmar is Chair of TRB Committee, AFK20 "Characteristics of Bituminous Materials" and Chair of ASTM Subcommittee D0422 on the "Effect of Water and Other Elements on Bituminous Coated Aggregates", Co-Chair of the Rocky Mountain Asphalt User Producer Group (RMAUPG) Steering Committee.
He is on the Board of Directors of the Mexican Asphalt Association (AMAAC), and Asphalt Emulsion Manufacturers Association liaison with the FHWA Expert Task Group on Pavement Preservation. Delmar received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. His career of over 20 years in the chemical industry and R&D in Canada, United States and Mexico, culminates with fifty-plus publications in different technical fields. He has excellent business networks with private industry and professional associations of North and Latin America.
Puneet Singh
General Manager of POLY-CARB, Inc
Puneet Singh is the General Manager of POLY-CARB, Inc., a subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company (POLY-CARB). Over the course of his 20-year career with the company, Singh has served in a variety of leadership capacities in manufacturing and engineering, technical service, marketing and sales and executive management.
In that time, Singh has become one of the country's foremost proponents on infrastructure protection and preservation and helped to position POLY-CARB as an industry leader in road, bridge and parking preservation technology and safety solutions.
Among these achievements, Singh has been instrumental in developing POLY-CARB's pioneering Asset Preservation, a proprietary approach to providing an accountable and performance-based model for infrastructure preservation and maintenance.
POLY-CARB and its rich 37 year history in materials innovation became a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company in 2007. Since that time, under Singh's leadership, POLY-CARB has successfully combined its track record of creativity, agility and customer-focused service culture with the resources, technology and experience of The Dow Chemical Company to create differentiating market offerings that deliver performance and add value to asset owners.
Singh earned his Bachelors degree from the University of Delhi, India and his Masters degree from the University of Akron, USA.
Jack Van Kirk
Director of Asphalt Technology, Valley Slurry Seal Co.
Jack is currently the Director for Asphalt Technology for Valley Slurry Seal Co. He provides internal consulting and technical expertise regarding materials engineering and construction, and development and evaluation of new products. Jack is a registered Civil Engineer in the State of California. Prior to joining VSS, Jack worked for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for almost 20 years. He was the departmental expert in the area of flexible pavement. Jack has authored many papers, research reports, specifications and test methods in the area of Materials Engineering. He has also made numerous presentations on related subjects across the United States and in other countries. Jack continues to be active both nationally and internationally in these areas of materials engineering.
Butch Wlaschin, P.E. U.S. Federal Highway Administration
Director of the FHWA Office of Asset Management
A member of the Senior Executive Service, Butch has been in the transportation arena for more than 38 years. He currently heads up FHWA's Office of Asset Management, and is responsible for developing policy, technical guidance and program assistance to the 52 State Highway Organizations in the area of asset management, system monitoring, bridge and pavement preservation and management, and economic evaluation and investment strategies. A recipient of a Masters Degree in Geotechincal Engineering from Georgia Tech, Butch previously was the Deputy Director of the FHWA Federal Lands Highway Office and oversaw the funding, policy, program development and delivery of the FLH $1.2B annual highway program.
Yetkin Yildirim, Ph.D., P.E.
Dr. Yetkin Yildirim is the director of the Texas Pavement Preservation Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Some of the recent projects that Dr. Yildirim is working on include the evaluation of aggregate and asphalt characteristics on pavement performance, evaluation of crack sealants, and the present state and future direction of pavement preservation in the United States.